Target-spotter.



R. S. HENRY.

TARGET SPOTTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1907.

PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FIGE.

ROBERT SAMUEL HENRY, OF OHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

TARGET-SPOTTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT SAMUEL HENRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Target-Spotter, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in target attachments adapted for use in target practice for the purpose of facilitating the accurate recording and indicating to the marksmen the exact location of each shot on the target, and it has for its object to provide a device of this character that is simple in construction so that it may be made cheaply, and which in practice is capable of being readily applied to the target after each shot for the purpose-of indicating its exact location on the target, the indicator being provided with an attaching device that enables it to be instantly applied over the perforation in the target, and the indicator is reversible and provided with distinctive colors on its opposite faces so that it may afiord ample contrast whether'it is applied to the light or dark colored portions of the target.

To these and other ends, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spotter or indicator constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section thereof showing the mode of securing the attaching device thereto. Fig. 3 is a face view of a portion of a target showing the manner of using the spotters or indicators for designating the locations of the shots. Fig. 4 represents a section of the target showing how the attaching devices on the spotters engage the material of the target and its backing through the hole made by the shot.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

The spotter or indicator shown in the present embodiment of the invention is especially adapted for use on military targets and those of similar type which are capable of being perforated by the shot, the target shown in the present instance being composed of a disk 1 of paper or other suitable Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 25, 1907.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Serial No. 385,582.

material marked on its face with the desired rings or circles designating the comparative excellence of the marksman, the center or bulls-eye being usually black and the field surrounding it being white, in order that sufficient contrast may be had to enable them to be readily distinguishable. These targets are mounted on a suitable backing, the target in the present instance being pasted on a sheet of canvas and stretched over a suitably supported framework.

The spotter for marking each perforation in the target is composed, in the present instance, of a disk 3 of paper, board, or other suitable material, and it may be of any suitable shape, an octagonal or other angular outline being preferable for the reason that it renders the spotter more readily discernible when applied to the contrasting color on the target. One face of the spotter is painted white, or otherwise colored, to contrast sharply with the black bulls-eye, while the opposite face thereof is painted black or otherwise colored to contrast sharply with the white field of the target.

In order to facilitate the application of the spotter to the target, it is preferable to employ an improved attaching device which is capable of utilizing the perforation made in the target by the shot the location of which the spotter is used to indicate, and this attaching device embodies, in the present instance, a wire or other strip of metal or other suitable material, more or less flexible, as may be desired, and having its ends doubled to form a pair of cooperatively arranged gripping arms 4 and 5, the portion intermediate of the arms passing through a transverse perforation 6 in the disk portion of the spotter, and those portions of the arms adjacent to the perforation lying inclose relation to the opposite faces of the disk and are held securely in place by' a reinforcing band 7 which extends through the disk and is pressed firmly against the opposite sides of the disk by means of suitably shaped dies, seats 8 and 9 being thereby formed in the band which reoeive the respective arms of the attaching device and thereby prevent relative movement between them and the disk. The lower or free ends of the attaching arms preferably diverge slightly to form a passage to receive the material composing the thickness of the target and its backing.

In practice, the spotter is ap lied by the target attendant, it being app ied with its white face forward when the shot has made a perforation in the bulls-eye, and vice versa, that is to say, with its black face forward when the shot to be indicated has made a perforation in the white portion of the target, a contrast of color being obtained in either instance that will enable the scorer and the marksman to clearly observe the spotter from a distance and thereby correctly determine the location of each shot on the target. The spotter is applied either by inserting the appropriate attaching arm through the-aperture made by the shot and engaging the material of the target and its backing between the two arms, the latter serving to support the spotter on the target with its face arranged parallel to the plane of the face of the target, or, as shown in the drawings, by in serting the proper arm into the aperture and between the target and its backing. When thespotter is removed to designate the location of the next shot, the hole from which it is removed may be covered by a suitably colored plaster or gummed. paper, and as the attaching device is revesible, the spotter may be applied to the target with either its white or black face forward, according to the portion of the target struck by the shot.

A spotter or indicator constructed in accordance with the present invention is es pecially useful in connection with rifle practice, as it is capable of being instantly applied to correctly indicate the location of the perforation made by the shot, and by reason of its contrasting colors is capable of being readily distinguishable from the target at considerable distances. Moreover, it is capable of being manufactured inexpensively, so that the low cost thereof enables them to be used generally, the facility with which they may be applied and removed minimizing the delays incident to target practice.

What is claimed is 1. A spotter for targets embodying a suitably colored disk, and a pair of attaching arms arranged on opposite sides thereof one of the arms being adapted to enter a perforation in the targetand both arms being adapted to receive the material of the target between them.

2. A spotter for targets embodying a disk, and a pair of attaching arms attached to and extending substantially parallel to the faces of the disk, the free ends of the arms being spaced to receive the material of the target between them.

3. A spotter for targets embodying a disk, a wire extending through a transverse perforation in the disk and having its ends doubled to extend substantially parallel to the opposite faces of the disk, and a reinforcing band extending transversely through the disk and having portions pressed against the opposite sides of the disk to confine the arms in fixed relation to the disk.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT SAMUEL HENRY.

Witnesses:

O. M. WEST,

J. SEEMAN. 1 

